TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES 2003 AWARD NOMINEES

June 4, 2003, Los Angeles, CA — The Television Critics Association today

unveiled its 2003 TCA Award nominations and as usual, critics showed their
preference for cutting-edge TV with a flood of heavyweight dramas among the
candidates.

Among them, NBC’s almost-axed series “Boomtown” led with four nominations.

But in a year overshadowed by war coverage, Comedy Central’s
side-splitting — and split-personality — “The Daily Show” was right up
there with its own quartet of nods.

The TCA Awards honor the finest work of the 2002-2003 season as selected by
the association’s 200 member critics and journalists. The winners will be
announced on July 19 in a ceremony guest hosted by comedienne Wanda Sykes at
the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.

This year, HBO snagged a list-topping total of 10 nominations with its
strong display in series television. Among the selections are gritty
newcomer “The Wire,” which received nods for Program of the Year,
Outstanding New Program and Outstanding Achievement in Drama; “The
Sopranos,” whose scenes of a disintegrating marriage secured nominations for
Outstanding Achievement in Drama and for Edie Falco and James Gandolfini in
the Outstanding Achievement in Individual Drama category; and “Curb Your
Enthusiasm” for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and for Outstanding
Achievement in Individual Comedy performance by producer-star Larry David.

HBO also got a Outstanding Achievement in Drama citation for “Six Feet
Under,” giving the premium cable channel three of six nominations in that
category. The other Outstanding Achievement in Drama nominees are freshman
show and critical fave “Boomtown,” which also got picked for
Program of the Year; Fox’s “24,” likewise a Program of the Year candidate;
and FX’s “The Shield.”

Yet among all series, the big surprise was “The Daily Show.” Fueled by
props for its satirical yet informative
coverage of the war, the show was plucked for Program of the Year, for
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, for host Jon Stewart in Outstanding
Achievement in Individual Comedy and even for Outstanding Achievement in
News and Information.

The remaining Outstanding Achievement in Comedy vote-getters include another
satire, BBC America’s lacerating workplace comedy “The Office,” along with
CBS perennial “Everybody Loves Raymond” and Fox’s canceled “Andy Richter
Controls the Universe.” (It’s practically a TCA tradition to nominate at
least one critically acclaimed but killed series.) Individual Comedy
selections showed lots of range, with Bonnie Hunt of ABC’s “Life With
Bonnie,” Tony Shalhoub of USA’s “Monk” and Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves
Raymond” joining Stewart and David.

Individual Drama displayed nearly as much diversity. Besides Gandolfini and
Falco, critics cited Jennifer Garner of ABC’s “Alias,” Kiefer Sutherland of
“24,” and Neil McDonough of “Boomtown.”

In the category of Outstanding New Program, there was a lot of
mood-shifting, with “Boomtown” and “The Wire” joined by wholesome family
entries like NBC’s “American Dreams and The WB’s “Everwood,” plus FX’s very
adult Las Vegas dramedy, “Lucky.”

Despite choosing “The Daily Show” for Outstanding Achievement in News and
Information, other crix pix for that group are more traditional: PBS’s
“Frontline,” CBS’s “60 Minutes,” ABC’s “Nightline” (another nearly-killed
show) and NBC correspondent David Bloom, who died reporting from Iraq.

For the second year in a row, the TCA chose candidates for its Heritage
Award, which recognizes a long-standing program whose positive cultural and
social impact extends beyond television. The nominees are “60 Minutes,”
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” NBC’s “Law & Order,” PBS’s “Reading Rainbow”
and UPN’s just-concluded “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

In the complementary category of Career Achievement, this year’s potential
honorees are Larry Gelbart, Don Hewitt, Carl Reiner, Aaron Spelling and
Oprah Winfrey.

The TCA also voted for Outstanding Achievement in Movie, Miniseries and
Special and for Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming. Below
are those selections and a complete list of the nominations.

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
American Idol (Fox)
Boomtown (NBC)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
24 (Fox)
The Wire (HBO)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Boomtown (NBC)
The Shield (FX)
Six Feet Under (HBO)
The Sopranos (HBO)
24 (Fox)
The Wire (HBO)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Andy Richter Controls the Universe (Fox)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS)
The Office (BBC America)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”)
Brad Garrett (“Everybody Loves Raymond”)
Bonnie Hunt (“Life With Bonnie”)
Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”)
Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show”)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Edie Falco (“The Sopranos”)
James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”)
Jennifer Garner (“Alias)
Neil McDonough (“Boomtown”)
Kiefer Sutherland (“24”)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
American Dreams (NBC)
Boomtown (NBC)
Everwood (The WB)
Lucky (FX)
The Wire (HBO)

HERITAGE AWARD
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (UPN)
Law & Order (NBC)
Reading Rainbow (PBS)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
60 Minutes (CBS)

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
Larry Gelbart
Don Hewitt
Carl Reiner
Aaron Spelling
Oprah Winfrey

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION
David Bloom (NBC)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
Frontline (PBS)
Nightline (ABC)
60 Minutes (CBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING
Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon)
Liberty’s Kids (PBS)
Nick News (Nickelodeon)
Reading Rainbow (PBS)
Sesame Street (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS
Door to Door (TNT)
Hitler: Rise of Evil (CBS)
Live From Baghdad (HBO)
Manor House (PBS)
Taken (Sci Fi)

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